7 Easy Ways to Increase Your Income

December 6, 2013

Who doesn’t want to make a little more money? If you are looking for easy ways to increase your income, there a number of options you can choose. Realize, though, that in many cases the easy buck isn’t going to provide you with a large income, although changing some of your habits could eventually pay off.

As you consider how to make every little bit help with your financial situation, here are some easy ways to make a quick buck and at least get a little more cash in your pocket:

1. Donate plasma.

I think this has to top every list of easy ways to make more money. Nearly anyone can do it, and you can get between $35 and $50 a donation. This is something you can do two times in any seven-day period, as long as there are two days between each donation. Get on a regular schedule, and you can increase your income by up to $800 a month.

2. Take online surveys.

Yes, this is still a Thing. You can spend a few minutes taking online surveys for a few bucks. If you sign up for a serious site, like Inspired Opinions, run by Schlesinger Associates, you can make some serious money with the help of focus groups. I once made $200 for being part of a one-hour phone focus group. Depending on how often you take surveys, you can make anywhere from $50 to $500 (or more) a month.

3. Turn your car into a billboard.

I’ve actually seen a few cars around my town that sport advertisements. If you don’t mind having your car wrapped, or if you don’t mind having some other ad placed on your car door or back window, you can sell ad space on your car. Depending on how many ads you sell, and what is reasonable for your area, you can make as much as $700 a month or more.

4. Monetize your hobby.

If you already spend time on a hobby anyway, you can monetize it so that you can at least offset some of the expenses associated with it. Many people, though, find that they can turn a hobby into a steady source of income. If you are doing something fun, it’s rarely considered hard to do. Turn your hobby into a money-maker, and you could have a solid side income.

5. Complete various tasks online.

There are a number of websites that allow you to make money online doing various (and often simple) tasks. However, you won’t make a lot of money. On Fiverr, you can do tasks for $5 at a time. You can also make money on Mechanical Turk doing simple things like helping come up with article names. You won’t make a ton, but you can do a few things each day when you have a few minutes, and it can add up to a couple hundred dollars a month.

6. Try online rebate and points programs.

You can earn extra money through online rebate and point programs. Websites like eBates provide you with the opportunity to rack up rewards points. You can also use programs like MyPoints to earn points that can be redeemed toward gift cards. While not straight cash, gift cards are still useful and can be used like cash. I know people that end up with what amounts to as much as $200 each month, just by shopping using a special add-on to the browser, and by planning purchases.

7. Write articles online.

Okay. I admit that this is only easy for some people. However, there are a number of websites, from Yahoo! Voices to Hubpages to Squidoo that allow you to write and earn money. Some of them pay a few dollars up front for your work, but many of them pay you based on traffic. So you can earn residual income over time. I still earn about $50 a month from traffic to articles on Yahoo! Voices and Hubpages from years ago. That’s not bad, considering I don’t actually do anything to earn that money actively.

What is your favorite easy way to make more money? Leave a comment!

This article was originally published November 30th, 2012.

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Miranda writes about personal finance almost every day. An experienced freelance writer, she's covered your money online and in print from every angle and is always looking for new ones.